Conventional bridge over Mir Alam Tank sinks hopes of lower footprint of connectivity

The planned link over the Mir Alam Tank to connect Shastripuram to Chintalmet on the Bengaluru Expressway is not a cable-stayed bridge as speculated but a 35 metre-wide, 2.4-kilometre conventional bridge with multiple piers.

While excavation workers were laying mud and rubble roads for the movement of vehicles, a supervisor on the field informed, “This is a normal bridge, like an overpass.” While the bridge has been called iconic, its only concessions seem to be the decorative lighting and the 1.5-metre footpath with a bird’s eye view of the Nehru Zoological Park and Mir Mahmood ki Pahadi.

“The deepest area we encountered is around 12 metres, while at other places it is 9 metres. The pillars will be elevated in the lake and there will be circular junctions at both ends to ensure smooth flow of traffic,” the official said.

According to documents available on government websites, KNR Constructions has received an approval letter for the EPC contract worth Rs 319.24 crore for 24 months for the completion of the bridge over Mir Alam Tank in Hyderabad.

The massive earthwork near HMWS&SB’s STP plant has attracted the horrified attention of the public and motorists about the nature of the work.

“The lake has already shrunk. We were expecting a cable-stayed bridge to survive the lake in its current form. If it is a conventional bridge, a larger portion of the lake will be lost, affecting the ecology and the sensitive environment near the iconic zoo park,” said SQ Masood, a rights activist who frequently visits the area for his work.

The huge water body was built by the Nizam’s Prime Minister Mir Alam as a source of drinking water for Hyderabad with the spoils of war against Tipu Sultan some 220 years ago. Over the years, the lake has shrunk due to encroachments and STP facilities built into it. Water quality assessed by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board in January 2025 showed that the total coliform count was 540 MPN per 100 ml; This showed that the water had become unusable even for recreational purposes.

The densely populated area on the other side of Musi has seen a major transformation in terms of traffic movement with the Bahadurpura Flyover and Aramghar Flyover providing convenience to motorists. However, the old bottlenecks of Aramaghar Junction and Purana Pul junction did not disappear by shifting the goalposts. The bridge over the Mir Alam Tank is expected to carry some of this traffic to the road under the PVNR Expressway.